Customers across Lincoln have been left disappointed after they ordered and paid for a Chinese takeaway online - without realising the restaurant had suddenly closed.

Lincolnshire Live reported on Monday, October 16 that Hotcha, based on Lincoln's High Street in the old George & Dragon building, had mysteriously closed over the past few days.

And now, five customers in Lincoln have so far said they had money taken from their accounts after ordering a takeaway from Hotcha at the time, as the restaurant was still showing on websites such as Just Eat.

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Commenting on the Lincolnshire Live story about the sudden closure of Hotcha, he said: "No wonder they didn't show up to deliver my food. They still took my money online though!"

Victoria Bell, Arran Hart, Stacey Whiteley and Sarah Hammond also said the same thing had happened to them.

Kaleigh Rowe said: "The same thing happened to us a couple of days ago."

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It is not known if they have since been refunded the money for the orders.

When calling the branch in Lincoln, the call goes through to a voicemail message, informing the caller the "voicemail box is full."

And when looking at takeaway website, Just Eat, it states that Hotcha is currently offline and not taking orders.

Hotcha has only been open in Lincoln since July.

On Monday, October 16, Lincolnshire Live reported branches of the fast food chain in Bristol and South Gloucestershire were the subject of ‘dawn raids’ by tax investigators over a suspected £35m money laundering operation at the beginning of October, according to the Bristol Post.

A total of 10 people have been arrested, four from Bristol, after HM Revenue and Customs officers raided addresses on October 6 across the country, and later released pending further investigation.